Talking
by prettyboylover666
Summary: Edward Nygma wanted to hear what Jonathan Crane had to say for once. One-shot. Scriddler (though can be read as platonic).


It was no secret to anyone who got to know the man for more than five minutes that Edward Nygma loved to talk. It didn't matter the subject, Edward would always seem to have an opinion, fact, riddle, or story on said thing - and he would be willing to prattle on about said subject for quite a while if given the chance. Contrary to popular belief though, Edward didn't always intend to completely take over conversations the way he often did. He just got excited. Once he got to telling one interesting thing fact, his mind would immediately think of another one that he would want to tell and soon, before he knew it, he was basically acting like a walking thesaurus. However, facts that might've been interesting to him weren't always interesting to everyone else though, and his bad habit of taking over the conversation often left others feeling annoyed with him.

While he was somewhat self-conscious about his chatty behavior, he also had to say, getting told to shut up by others would never fail in sending a spike of indignant anger through him. They could at least have the common decency to let him finish his thoughts half of the time… or at least find a nicer way of wording that phrase. That's what he got for assuming anyone in Gotham had any proper manners though.

Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about being told to shut up by his roommate, Jonathan Crane. Okay, that wasn't completely true. There were definitely lines. For example, if Edward dared to start jabbering when Jonathan was reading or discreetly scribbling down formulas on pieces of paper, Jonathan would immediately lose patience with him and hurl quite some venom at him from annoyance. He had also learned that if Jonathan was in a bad mood that morning to not continue to pursue in the conversation unless he wanted for it to result in the both of them mad that day. However, if he was careful not to infringe on these rules with the other man, Jonathan Crane was easily had the best listening skills and patience of any of the Gotham rogues.

Edward could tell any story and Jonathan would listen, grunting and nodding every once in awhile to encourage Edward to keep going. For a while, it was so jarring to see someone care about what he had to say for such extended periods of time, that for a while, Edward was paranoid for a bit that Jonathan wasn't actually listening at all and just humoring him. After all, Jonathan really had no real reason to keep listening. They had only been roommates for a short period of time and he never seemed to say anything. However, he was delighted to find his worry was for nothing as eventually, once they got more adjusted to each other, Jonathan began to start asking questions or giving an opinion to whatever Edward was talking about. He was also excited to find that the queries and comments Jonathan would interject with were actually somewhat intelligent and not complete drivel. It had been a while since Edward had been roomed with someone who could keep up with him somewhat intellectually, but thankfully, Jonathan fit the bill nicely.

He was not as smart as Edward of course, but then again, who was? Jonathan was at a close enough level that Edward couldn't help but appreciate.

However, while Edward did enjoy having someone he could talk about whatever to, he couldn't help but notice how Crane would very rarely initiate conversation himself. The man had always been that way. Even when they had first been roomed together, Crane had made no intentions of introducing himself until Edward himself did it first. He knew he sometimes that if a doctor or a guard happened to rub the taller man the wrong way, the man could fly off into somewhat of a rant… but he couldn't tell if Jonathan was really saying that to him or was simply saying it to himself aloud. He would always give him his own input on said doctor and guard which Jonathan would eagerly reply to … but other than those moments it seemed as if Jonathan never spoke unless spoken too or if he became extremely annoyed.

Edward couldn't help but wonder what made this obviously opinionated and intelligent man like him such a loner. Edward hadn't managed to get ahold of Crane's file yet, so he couldn't say he knew about the other man's past (and admittedly, he was too nervous to go up and ask the man himself) so he couldn't pinpoint any moment's in the man's history that could possibly explain why he turned out the way he did. However, if Edward were to guess based on the rogue track record, he could only assume it hadn't been pretty… and if Crane's past were anything like his own, then Crane had simply adjusted to the fact that no one wanted to hear his opinion. No one bothered to ask Crane what he thought about certain things… no one wanted to listen when he did… so Jonathan got used to forcing people to listen via the Scarecrow. Edward found that somewhat unfair. The man deserved better … and if Edward could become a popular socialite… maybe there was hope for Crane too…

Okay, that was a bit of a stretch but Edward could at least appease him for once.

So instead of going off on a tangent about how long he bet the recently-escaped Harley would remain free before the Bat brought her in again (he gave her three weeks), he instead looked at the man perched on one of their beds, deeply engrossed in whatever novel he had collected from the library that day. Taking a breath, he cleared his throat and then, breaking the unspoken don't-talk-to-Jonathan-when-he-was-reading rule, he said, "Crane?"

Immediately annoyed brown eyes looked up from the book to send him quite the chilling glare. Edward repressed the urge to shiver. The book snapping shut, Crane immediately snapped, "What is it, Edward? This better be good if-"

Interrupting before Jonathan issued a threat out on him, Edward said, "I was just wondering what has been the most interesting fear you've seen in your career? I mean, you've collected quite the number of people who've been victims to your fear toxin and I feel like there was bound to be the oddball every now and again."

He watched as all of the annoyance dissipated from Jonathan's eyes, being replaced with genuine shock and surprise. It seemed as if he had temporarily rendered Jonathan Crane speechless.

However, he watched as Crane's face suddenly lit up with a brightness he had never seen before and saw the other actually grin in excitement as he said, "Well, actually, I do have a couple of stories…"

Edward Nygma quietly crawled on top of his bed and got comfortable, ready to listen to what Jonathan Crane had to say for once.

* * *

 **A/N: I can't believe it. I actually made a fic on time. This was an idea I had floating around in my head for a while now... but I never really found myself working on it. However, when I heard it was my favorite Jonathan's birthday today, I suddenly became motivated to finish this and post it! So happy birthday Jonathan Crane... you made 2016 a tolerable year for me and I love you to bits. So, as a present, instead of making you miserable like I usually do in fics, I decided to give you a boyfriend. Congratulations.**

 **This is really hitting two birds with one stone tbh. I had been wanting to write a Scriddler fic for a while, but alas, writers block hits even me.**

 **Hope you enjoyed lovelies and as always, critique is welcome!**


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